Hello: Lawrence Marshall

Southfield (MI) DE/LB Lawrence Marshall, a former Ohio State commit and presumed Michigan State lock, has committed to... Michigan, of course, per fellow commit Michael Ferns and confirmed by the various recruiting outlets. Marshall was on campus today with Ferns and receiver commit Moe Ways, a long-time AAU teammate of Marshall's who's been recruiting him hard lately.

Marshall was expected to make a decision soon, but the choice wasn't supposed to be Michigan—according to 247, he's visited East Lansing eight (eight!) times since the beginning on February, and all six of the 247 experts to weigh in predicted he'd choose Michigan State.

Where's the threat? Oh, it's right here, and it's devouring us alive.

GURU RATINGS

Scout

Rivals

ESPN

24/7 Sports

4*, #12 DE,
#89 Ovr

3*, #19 WDE

4*, 83, #12 DE,
#107 Ovr

4*, 91, #12 WDE,
#207 Ovr

As you'll see in the scouting section, Marshall is a relatively raw prospect with plenty of upside, so it's not surprising to see a major outlier in his rankings prior to his senior season; while the other three services have Marshall safely within their top lists, Rivals pegs him as a three-star ranked three spots below the last WDE four-star (Gelen Robinson, incidentally). His listed measurables range from 6'3", 215 lbs. to 6'4", 230—based on recent camp reports, the latter figure is probably more accurate.

With the rankings for Marshall largely based on his potential, his senior season and future camp performances could spur plenty of movement in either direction.

SCOUTING

Allen Trieu's free report on Marshall's Scout profile is a good place to start—his listed strengths are athleticism, backside pursuit, and lateral range, with "techniques and moves" as his area for improvement:

Very long frame. Has great athleticism, change of direction and speed in pursuit. Has all of the tools to be an elite pass rusher, just needs continued work on his technique. Plays with hand down in high school, but may be a stand-up rusher in college. Has not been asked to drop into coverage much, but that's something he may be asked to do at the next level. Has to add some weight, but all of the raw tools are there. - Allen Trieu

I believe Marshall is more likely to end up at weakside DE—playing with his hand down—than standing up at outside linebacker, so this note from Trieu after an Adidas camp in March brings up an important point ($):

He's very long and athletic. He needs to still get stronger. Big, physical offensive linemen had success when they got their hands on him, but his feet and quickness are very impressive.

Until Marshall adds the requisite size and technique, he'll have a tough go against big offensive linemen. In college, that's every offensive lineman.

His athleticism, however, makes him a tantalizing prospect as an edge rusher. Steve Lorenz named him one of the top performers at the first HYPE Showcase in Canton, citing his size/speed combo as the primary reason, a couple weeks ago:

DE Lawrence Marshall (Southfield, MI/Southfield): Marshall was the headliner and for the most part performed as such. He continues to build himself up and has become a potentially lethal combination of size and speed. He still can occasionally struggle against bigger defenders a bit, but still usually gets to the tackling dummy without much of an issue.

And at the aforementioned Adidas camp Marshall even took a couple reps on offense... at wide receiver:

Southfield (Mich.) High Top247 defensive end Lawrence Marshall took a few reps at defensive end before moving over and showing his athleticism at receiver. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Marshall was rocked up and continues to add size each time we see him.

The fact that Marshall is consistently adding size is, of course, also a major positive at this point. In fact, according to a report from Rivals' Josh Helmholdt during Marshall's junior season, while Marshall needs to add size his strength may actually be a positive ($) [emphasis mine]:

DE Lawrence Marshall, Southfield, Mich. (2014):: The last few weeks have been especially fruitful for Marshall. Although his team made a second-round exit from the Michigan high school state playoffs, a wave of new scholarship offers has helped assuage the agony of defeat. Among the most recent to offer are Big Ten programs Indiana and Michigan State, and the appeal of Marshall is evident on junior film. At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Marshall still has a lean frame, but he does not have issues with strength at the point of attack. He does a great job creating upfield momentum, which all starts with his explosive first step. Marshall comes off the line hard and low, and puts an exclamation point on his sacks by being a heavy hitter.

That was five months and 20-or-so pounds ago. If Marshall continues to get bigger, as is expected, I don't think there will be much question about him playing on the line when he gets to campus. His athletic ability gives him much more potential if he's playing defensive end—where it's harder to find such an athlete that can also hold the point of attack—than if he's thrown into Michigan's deep pool of linebackers.

Southfield High School (Class A, Division 2) has been an above-average program for the last several years but hasn't had a lot of success in the state playoffs—last year, they fell to Oak Park in the second round. Marshall is the highest-ranked prospect the school has produced in the Rivals era—and that's going by his three-star Rivals ranking. Other notable prospects include 2012 TE Ron Thompson, who chose Syracuse over Michigan, and 2012 Cincinnati cornerback signee LEVITICUS PAYNE.

STATS

According to 247, Marshall recorded 79 tackles, 15 sacks, and four interceptions during his junior season.

FAKE 40 TIME

None of the sites list a FAKE (or real) 40 time.

VIDEO

Marshall's tape very much falls in line with the scouting reports. He's got a great burst off the line and gets to the football in a hurry; he's also hardly touched on a good number of these plays and needs work on technique—when he gets to Michigan, he won't be able to simply run right past offensive linemen.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

In case it hasn't been made abundantly clear, Marshall is a high-ceiling, boom-or-bust recruit. The potential is there for him to be a highly impactful edge rusher, but first he must add weight and refine his technique. [Insert praise of Michigan's D-line coaching here.]

It's possible that Marshall ends up at strongside linebacker, though I like him a lot more as a weakside end. Still, he has some positional flexibility and at the very least should turn himself into a situational pass-rusher. This comparison has been made elsewhere, but his size/speed combo and raw potential are very reminiscent of Frank Clark, this year's presumed starter at weakside end. Unlike Clark, Marshall should have a couple years of seasoning before he needs to see the field with Mario Ojemudia and Taco Charlton in the two classes ahead of him. From there, it's all about maintaining his athleticism while adding bulk and refining his technique—if he can do that, he's got double-digit sack potential.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

I covered Michigan's defensive line situation in great detail yesterday; the short version is they'll happily take Marshall, Malik McDowell, and Da'Shawn Hand should the latter two also decide on the Wolverines. That would give Michigan one complete line in the 2014 class with Marshall (WDE), McDowell (3-tech/SDE), Bryan Mone (NT/3-tech), and Hand (SDE/WDE). This is by no means guaranteed to happen, but at this point it's difficult to not at least consider it a definite—and pretty damn awesome—possibility. Even if Michigan misses out on Hand, that's a heck of a D-line haul if they can keep McDowell in-state, which at this point is the expectation.

As for the class as a whole, Michigan now has nine commits (not including grayshirt Brady Pallante) in the 2014 class, which currently has room for 14 players but should end up closer to 20 when all is said and done. We know the Wolverines will take one more linebacker—probably either Chase Winovich or Kyron Watson—and probably a third offensive lineman, and spots will be held open for McDowell and Hand. Other priorities include a third receiver and, say, an elite defensive back (ahem).

Happy to have this kid, but the fact that he's a former OSU commit and a believed Sparty lock makes this even better.

Given how thoroughly we're out-recruiting Sparty, if we can beat them in EL this year, and convincingly, there isn't much in the way of pushing them back to second-tier status, and it will become all the more clear to them that the only reason they had any success was because of the RichRod debacle.

Attention campers. Lunch is cancelled due to lack of hustle. Deal with it.

I haven't been following every move, but what's the issue with that? Is Hand only a WDE? Is McDowell only a SDE?

Seems like you can find a place for all 3 and plug Mr. Mone at NG and have a DLine that would rank in the top half of the B1G from day 1.

“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”

Agreed. RVB was 6'6" and played 3-tech on occasion, as was Heininger who played it whenever RVB didn't that year. BWC was 6'5" and played it this year. I doubt McDowell is actually 6'7" and I don't think 6'6" is too tall.

“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”

“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”

I was about to sarcastically post about being forced to run a 5-2 base defense in order to get the best 11 on the field, but then I remembered all those linebackers that we have. First world problems indeed...

but after AAALLLLLL the guys Hoke and his staff have recruited and gotten to commit, they'd end up recruiting someone that reminds us of that thug? Sure, there's a chance of inflated recruiting numbers, but I'm sure they've seen him plenty seeing as he's from Southfield. I seriously doubt it.

Well if so its a Kaleb Ringer situation in a few years. You get them in the house, let them sort it amongst themselves. The cream rise to the top. None of us have a clue - there are 2 star guys like the #1 OVERALL PICK OF THE NFL who rise to the top and 5 stars who do little (well most 5 stars are at least average CFB players but a lot of 4 stars turn into dust). You get the point. Stars are stars - its a nice thing for people to obssess with over the summer. All that matters is what they do on the field under the bright lights. None of us have a clue here about that - even the coaches won't know. You just go with the percentages and load up with as much talent as you can and in the end the kids differentiate.

Case in point in our backyard. William Campbell five star. Vs. eric Fisher two star. One goes in the fifth rd and the other the top overall pick. One couldve went to any school of choice and the other only central mich. this example should be always remembered by the Michigan staff

Marshall is different from Gholston in a lot of ways, but to the broader point, I think it's good that we're recruiting some boom or bust guys. It's obviously hard to project, but there aren't many positions that look thin on our rosters for 2014, 2015, etc. I'd rather take a few chances, knowing that some won't work out, to increase the likely number of dominant players we have in a few years. We can afford to take some of those gambles.

before anyone actually plays or attends a practice, but he sounds athletic with a lot of upside (and if we made the mistake, then Ohio was perfectly willing to make the same mistake, as well as OU, etc., and those are no slouch football schools)

Wow very surprised, it seemed he was a Sparty lean lately. I sense a clenched jaw somewhere in the E. Lansing area - perhaps even a locked jaw. Oh well there is still the rest of the galaxy to recruit and a lot less "threats" in those other parts of said galaxy.